2004 Chevrolet Aveo LS from Singapore - Comments

5th Mar 2009, 20:38

I just did a water pump and cam and crank seals for a friend. With new belts and tensioners and idler, plugs and wires, cam cover seal and the new design aluminum thermostat housing the parts and shipping, came to about $430 from a Chevy dealer in Texas online. The biggest hassle was getting all the bolt torque values off the Internet, which I finally found by Googling "Aveo camshaft bolt torque". He says the engine now at 58K runs like new.

14th Mar 2009, 15:36

The only problem I've had with my 2004 Aveo was that the engine light kept coming on. While it was under warranty the dealership did extensive engine repairs that failed to keep the light from coming on. Eventually they concluded that it was a leaky gas cap! Since that was replaced I haven't had any problems.

5th Apr 2009, 16:34

My Aveo 5 has been a good car, it has about 65,000 miles on it (113,000 kms.)

I have an engine light on, I'm pretty sure the last guy's call was right. The gas cap is no good. It's due for an oil change anyway, so I'll take it in, have them look at the belts like another guy said. Check the gas cap first. Mine is loose and never seemed right. Having read this stuff I'm looking to a defective gas cap first. Might save you hundreds. Have a look, belts are next.

18th May 2009, 03:45

Hi, I'm using an AVEO 2007 model.

I am having a weird problem, my RPM is about 0.75 normally, when I put my gear into reverse it drops a bit at about 0.65, then goes back to normal.

When I turn the power steering, the RPM drops till 0.5, the car starts shaking a bit, sometimes it recovers and sometimes my car's engine just stops. This happen mostly in reverse gear. In forward gears it still works. I find just a bit of RPM drop when I turn my steering.

My transmission oil has already been changed and my mileage is at 52k now.

14th Jul 2009, 15:50

We have a 2004 Aveo... timing belt went at 60,075 miles, 75 miles off warranty. GM refused to offer any sort of good will partial payment, told us it was our problem. Our dealer never told us to have the timing belt replaced before 60,000 miles... much damage to the engine...$2500 repair. (one week before timing belt went, thermostat also went (which we understand is another problem with this car... had that repaired. Wondering if it is worth the repair or should we send it to the junk yard? Very worried that our $2500 will be money thrown out the door... and something else major will happen. Luckily, we paid cash for the car 3 years ago. Does junking a car cost money, too? GM may not make the car, but they sell them through their Chevy dealership... they should stand by their product!!!

9th Aug 2009, 10:43

People are quick to get on their computer and complain about something, but we rarely hear about the good... I have a 2007 Aveo hatchback with 65,000kms. The only problem's I have had with it is a bad oxygen sensor and the hatch door handle linkage... Excellent car as far as I'm concerned!

9th Aug 2009, 21:23

Your dealer isn't your babysitter. It's not their responsibility to tell you when ANYTHING is due for replacement. That is all in that little book in the glove compartment that no one ever reads. It's called an Owner's Manual. Look in it sometime. It could have saved you $2500.

10th Aug 2009, 17:28

While I agree that it's not the dealer's responsibility to remind you to service your vehicle, you should never have to worry about a timing belt going at 65,000 miles. But it's what they get for buying a Chevy. The entire engine blew in my Lumina at 60,000 miles. And I do regularly service my car.

10th Aug 2009, 19:34

"It will save enough to buy you a new car over a period of 5 or 6 years, especially if you own a high-maintenance import."

It's the other way around. All of my imports have lasted twice if not 3 times as long as my domestics. My last domestic, a Ford, died at just over 105,000 miles. Which isn't that much for me. My Honda I owned before that, I sold in perfect running condition at 200,000 miles. I never should have bought that Ford.

18th Sep 2009, 13:10

We have a 2004 Chevy Aveo LS that we bought used with low miles. It still had the factory warranty. 1 yr later, and the car has had problems like the automatic window not working, a leak in the valve gasket, and now the key won't come out and it won't come out of park unless the battery is dead, which happened overnight with nothing left on or open. It has been serviced regularly since we have had it.

3rd Nov 2009, 17:23

How about our timing belt went out at 40k on our 2004 Aveo that had been WELL maintained? The manual says you should replace it at 60k not 40k and it failed 2 months out of warranty.

That is not exactly some thing you can pop the hood and check out.

I agree if they are going to put their brand on it they have to stand by it. It's crap and if they are willing to sell me that crappy car they don't deserve my business. We drove my husbands first Honda Civic around for 13 years and didn't have the kind of problems with that car that we do with this 5 year old clunker.

3rd Nov 2010, 20:37

I bought my 2004 Chevy Aveo in March 2007 with 64k miles on it. I don't know what the service history is before that time. It now has 132k miles on it and is starting to have issues. I've never had the timing belt replaced, but am thinking about doing so at this point. I put wires and plugs in it a year or so ago. In the last month, though, I've had the drive belt fly off (new belt and tensioner from a parts store $65), tube seals leaking oil into the spark plug tubes, which will require the cover gasket to be replaced at minimum, plus new plugs and wires (oil-soaked), a loud knock/tapping noise that is coming from the plastic intake manifold (not from the valves, as it's coming from the little valve on the driver's side of the upper intake), and today the brake lights out/not coming out of park issue hit. I put new tires on it at 65k miles, and I'm just now due for new ones. It's been a decent car, but I hate to put the cash into a car that's worth $1600 trade-in.